Related Outpatient Surgery Article

Rush Oak Park Hospital’s Same-day Surgery Suite combines comfort, convenience and efficiency to allow the patient comprehensive care. The suite, consisting of 25 individual private and spacious patient bays, is designed to ease patient flow, streamline surgical care, and provide a pleasant experience for the patient and family members.

“The key to our department is providing as much information as possible to the patient and family regarding expectations and departmental flow, prior to surgery,” says Melissa Jucius, RN, a clinical coordinator for the suite. “Every nurse reviews the surgical process and departmental flow with patients in order to better educate them on what to expect.”

Lack of information can lead to unnecessary stress on a patient and the family, but at Rush Oak Park Hospital the medical staff is devoted to customer service. Jucius adds that former patients have referred to the surgical suite as “spa-like.”

“Our registrars come directly to the patient and complete the registration process,” she explains. “Many other hospitals require patients to seek outpatient admitting or registration departments. We do not do that.

“If pre-op tests are needed, some hospitals have an outpatient clinic. We don’t do that either,” adds Jucius. “Our medical personnel, such as phlebotomists or EKG techs, come directly to the patient. Every service—with the exception of radiology—comes directly to the patient. We don’t send patients on departmental scavenger hunts.”

The priority, according to Jucius, is keeping the patient and the family comfortable and well-informed.

“Discharges are managed swiftly because patients usually want to be home sooner than later,” she says. “We instruct patients before surgery on what criteria need to be met before discharge. And we explain that it is our protocol to ask for identifying information throughout the day, not just once or twice.”